Safe Consultations with Survivors of Violence Against Women and Girls
January 11 or 12, 2023
Presenters: Melissa Scaia and Laura Williams from Global Rights for Women, Alicia Wallace, Equality Bahamas, Scott Miller, Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, and Amirthini Keefe, Domestic Abuse Project.
This webinar will focus on the implementation of Safe Consultations with Survivors of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), a new guidance created between a partnership of Global Rights for Women, UN Women and Australia Aid. Three of the authors and contributors of this guidance will provide information, including practical steps, safety measures, and actions that women’s organizations, victim service providers, batterers intervention programs, Government agencies and coordinating bodies can take to incorporate the voices of VAWG survivors into systemic reform efforts, through consultations with survivors.
This webinar will discuss the two primary ways to consult with survivors described in the guidance: 1) focus groups discussions; and 2) individual interviews with survivors. FGDs and individual interviews with survivors are often not conducted due to the fear that doing so will re-traumatize survivors. In addition, many who would like to engage with survivors do not do so because they are unsure about appropriate and useful questions to ask survivors. This webinar and the guidance provided will assist in centralizing the voices of survivors in the development of interventions to address VAWG.
Learn techniques and best-practices for listening to survivors that prioritizes their confidentiality and safety, and how interviews and focus groups can address the specific needs of survivors of domestic and sexual violence, especially during a crisis. The presenters will train participants on the practical steps, safety measures and actions that women’s organizations, government agencies and coordinating bodies can take to effectively incorporate the voices of survivors into policy and systems change. This workshop is for justice system actors, advocates and facilitators of groups and those who meet with clients individually.